16. They said to him, “There are 50 strong men with us! Please let them go and look for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has taken Elijah up and set him down. He may be on some mountain or in some valley.”But Elisha answered, “No. Don’t send them.”
17. The group of prophets begged Elisha until he hated to refuse them anymore. Then he said, “Send them.” So they sent 50 men who looked for three days. But they could not find Elijah.
18. Then they came back to Elisha at Jericho where he was staying. He said to them, “I told you not to go, didn’t I?”
19. The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, master, this city is a nice place to live. You can see that. But the water is bad. That’s why the land cannot grow crops.”
20. Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
21. Then Elisha went out to the spring of water and threw the salt in it. He said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. From now on it won’t cause death. And it won’t keep the land from growing crops.’”
22. The water was healed. It is still good today. It happened just as Elisha had said.
23. From there Elisha went up to Bethel. On the way some young men came out of the city. They made fun of Elisha. They said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”